Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, p 93:
John Kelly

Another Irish-Australian born on the Darling Downs in 1884 was John J Kelly. After education by the Christian Brothers in Toowoomba and a few years on the family property, he decided to go to Manly. He was ordained in Sydney in November of 1910.

'J.J.'s first years of curacy were in Roma and Charleville. In the words of Archbishop Duhig, 'Used to the country and attached to country life, he worked for years in Charleville and his heart went out to the people. Then the Great War broke out and he saw crowds of young men exchanging the stockwhip for the rifle and he determined they should not go without their priest. He became the first Queensland Chaplain to go to the war. Four years of hardship and privations at the Front deepened his serious view of life and undermined his health.'

From 1919-1922, John was Parish Priest at Roma, then at Helidon, Wynnum and finally Kalinga.

Early in 1938 he went to the clergy retreat at Nudgee: 'Although a very sick man he would not absent himself from the retreat and after a day, was compelled to return home and take to his bed from which he never rose.' He died on 9th February and was buried at Nudgee. His nephew John Kevin Kelly was ordained later that year [1938] and became Parish Priest of Cannon Hill.

Standing directly behind J J Kelly in the row above is his younger brother, later Mons. James Denis Kelly.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)

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Prayer Calendar: Deceased Priests who have ministered the Catholic Faith throughout Toowoomba and districts, 1864–2025, Compiled by Annie Carrett, Diocesan Archivist, 2001, Updated by Gabrielle Saide, Diocesan Archivist, 2023:
Rev John J (Jack) Kelly, died 2 Feb 1938

Jack Kelly was born in the Crows Nest region in 1884, to a large family including a brother who followed him to the priesthood and became Parish Priest of Ipswich Road. Little is known of his early days. He studied at Manly and was ordained in Sydney in November 1910, for the Brisbane Archdiocese (which them embraced all of the present Toowoomba Diocese). For several years he was stationed at Charleville, "a parish as large as Ireland". In 1911 he was in Roma. In 1916 it was said that Father Jack was one of the western authorities on everything pertaining to the car. He found work in the country most congenial, but when the War broke out, volunteered for service, and was accepted as a chaplain to the A.I.F at the front. Despite the fact that he was still a young man, Father Kelly returned from overseas a broken man. He went back to the country, however, and for some years was Parish Priest of Roma. Subsequently he was stationed at Helidon, Wynnum, and Kalinga. He died on February 2nd, 1938 aged 53 and was buried in Brisbane, after a solemn Requiem Mass on 3rd February.
(Ref. Manly, Oct 1938, Vol. 5, No. 4)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.